Robot Wars contestant reveals why he stormed off after losing to schoolchildren

A Robot Wars contestant has revealed why he stormed off set in a rage after his team lost to a group of schoolchildren.

Team Behemoth captain Ant has said his actions were out of frustration over a decision made by his team-mates – not because he was beaten by a team of 12 and 13 year olds.

On Sunday night’s show his team – a group of four adults – took on Team Cherub, made up of three children and one adult.

Behemoth used a new "grabber" innovation on their robot for the showdown, but it did not go to plan.

Ant said: "I am incredibly passionate about Robot Wars and it is something I take very seriously.

Unimpressed: Ant from Team Behemoth stormed off without congratulating the winners (BBC)

"I want to clarify that in Sunday's episode I didn't walk off because I was beaten by children, I walked off because I was very frustrated by the decision we made for Behemoth's weapon for the battle."

Before the match, Ant had expressed his concern to his Behemoth colleagues about the "experimental" grabber, a tool they had hoped would pick up their rival robot and carry it around the arena.

The match was reset mid-way through as Robot Wars veteran Behemoth pushed Cherub under one of the arena's floor flippers – an unprecedented occurrence – and there was no clear winner by the end due to neither robot being immobilised or knocked out.

Presenter Angela Scanlon told the two teams the unanimous decision from the judges was that Cherub was the winner, prompting the Behemoth team captain to angrily storm off camera muttering “whatever” under his breath.

Head to head: Team Cherub's robot (left) battles with Team Behemoth's robot (right) (BBC Two Robot Wars)

He could be seen handing the robot’s controller to one of his teammates and walking off set without congratulating the youngsters.

Ant added: "I respect Cherub as competitors and age is not something I took into account - as such, I would have acted the same way with any other competitor.

"I apologised to the Cherub team and Angela after the cameras stopped rolling for that moment."